Three certainties in life: Death, Taxes, and Haters

I don’t understand people sometimes. I guess it’s best not to because if I try and understand why people act the way they do I’d get nothing else done in life.

I got a comment on a post I wrote awhile back about being featured on New and Noteworthy for Photo 365. Of course I was so excited about it. My first app got featured in the second week it was out. It was beyond my wildest imagination.

Did I get lucky? I’d be the first to say yes.

But I put myself in that position in the first place by creating an app. After that, being featured or not by Apple is completely out of the developer’s hands. No one knows exactly how you get featured. It’s not based on number of downloads or how many ratings you have. I’ve seen apps featured on New and Noteworthy with no ratings or reviews.

I really thought my second app, Gratitude Journal 365, would be featured by Apple as well. I thought the design was great and the features were nice. However it got nothing. That’s how it is for indie developers.

Here is the comment that made me write this post.

This is from another app developer. I’ve removed his link to his app because he doesn’t deserve the link or free promotion. To me, he sounds super bitter.

I couldn’t let it go and say nothing. Here is the rest of the conversation.

Since he felt like giving his “realistic opinion”, I’ll give mine.

My guess is he is upset that his amazing app didn’t get featured by Apple. He sees other apps, like mine, that have been featured and think his app is so much better. He believe his app actually does something valuable instead of letting users save one photo a day. Also he’s not making much money back on his app either, hence the comment about how much money I’ve made. He’s spent a lot and not nearing his break even point.

And really, being featured on New and Noteworthy does not determine the success of an app. Yes the recognition is nice, but it only lasts a week. Being featured isn’t going to make us rich or poor. I know developers who have never been featured and they make a comfortable living from their apps. So I’m not sure why he is so upset about the process. Complain to Apple.

Secondly if he’s going to argue it’s easier to win the lottery than be featured, at least be right.

Currently there are 900,000 apps in the App store. A lot of them aren’t even close to be worthy enough to be featured. So that eliminates a whole bunch. Every week they feature 30 apps in the New and Noteworthy section. That’s 1,560 apps a year.

Recently the Powerball jackpot was $600 million. The odds of winning that were 1 in 175,223,510. I’m not that great at math, but just looking at the numbers, I would say winning the lottery is much harder.

I’ve bought way more lottery tickets than developed apps and I have yet to win the lottery.

I posted a link to his comments on Twitter and these responses from friends.

They’re right. There are going to be people are going to hate your success. It also made me realize one thing.

Being jealous is a waste of time

People are going to be jealous about anything. They might look at someone and be jealous they have a better job, more money, more success, or more recognition. They may be working hard, but don’t have the amount of success as someone else who seemingly doesn’t work so hard and just gets lucky.

They’re wasting their time and energy if they spend it on being jealous. What good does it really do? What good does leaving a comment like the one above?

Instead of focusing on what they need to do, they’re constantly thinking about that other person. They’re not thinking nice things either so all that negative energy gets them upset inside.

I don’t want that to be you and I don’t want you to associate yourself with people like that either. The friends you spend the most time with are so vital to your success and happiness in life. If they’re nasty and jealous, that’s going to rub off on you.

The reality is there are going to be people ahead of us in life.

I’ve seen interviews of other app developers who are making way more money than I am. Am I jealous? No. It makes me focus more and work harder so I can get to that level. I don’t waste my time being jealous.

Those jealous people just try to bring the rest of us down to their level.

Maybe you have friends that see you much happier because you are doing something they only dream about. They’re going to be jealous. Why? Because you’re doing what they aren’t doing. They have a million excuses why not to, while you’re taking control of your life. Since they can’t be happy, they don’t want you to either.

So they say things about you, talk behind your back, or even talk in front of your face. They want to bring you down to their own low level.

Do no let them do that. Do not let them win.

Let them stay there complaining and doing nothing, while you ignore them. If you really have friends like that, you truly need to find new friends.

Conclusion

If you feel the urge to be jealous about someone, remember this quote:

“More men die of jealousy than of cancer.” – Joseph P. Kennedy [click to tweet]

If you’re surrounded by people who are like this, distance yourself from them because you can’t life a positive life hanging around negative people.

I feel better getting this off my chest, but it’s also a good lesson for all of us. Jealously will get us nowhere in life.

Now excuse me while I go buy some lottery tickets since apparently it’s much easier to win than being featured by Apple. I’ve already been featured so my lottery odds are pretty good, right? 🙂

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Hmmmm I don’t believe it was luck at all. I don’t believe in luck. I believe in the Law of Attraction though, and I believe that when you work hard, and want something to happen, AND the vibrational level is a match…..opportunities happen.

Earl Nightingale, Napoleon Hill, and so many others have told us our thoughts manifest into reality.

….and, just my humble opinion, there was no need to answer that guy and tell him he a bitter developer…..he already knew it, everyone who read his comment would know it, and while it felt good, it lowers your vibrational level to say it. Now having said that, I too need to learn that leasson sometimes. 🙂

Benny, I love this post. I feel you 100%, my man. Even as a dude who blogs about positivity, you’d be shocked by the insane amount of hate that I get on a daily basis. For the life of me, I will never fully understand the mentality of a hater (nor do I want to). They’re like seagulls–they swoop in, take a dump on your picnic, and then fly away–it’s pathetic, really. There’s no way that anyone who does that consistently can feel good about themselves.

But on the flip side, if you don’t have someone who’s jealous of you, or someone who is so uncomfortable by your bright light that they feel compelled to “dull your shine”, then chances are that you’re not doing anything worthwhile. But the good news in your case is that *you are* doing something worthwhile. That’s exactly what caused that fool to leave that comment on the N&N section in the first place. Keep it up my man, let the haters hate while you keep on being great. There’s no other option that makes sense.

Thank you Shola! I can’t believe people would give you crap about what you write about. That’s just unreal. It’s a waste of time like you said to try and figure out why they do what they do. Maybe they feel powerful by lashing out hate behind their computer screen. Who knows.

Appreciate your comment. It helps put the situation in perspective!

Paul

Benny – I like the one guys tweet(Don’t feed the trolls). There are always going to be the takers and haters but remember your above all that. When your the millionaire remember someone is going to say your the lucky one,not that you busted your hump and put the time in. Your in the game brother and always remember at least you will have NO REGRETS. Fortune favors the bold and on the other side of fear is freedom. Your the goods brother. THANKS

Haters, yes, they’re all around us! I design websites and get “hate” mail from fellow web designers/competitors here where I live. When I receive mail such as these, sure, it bothers me to a certain point, but, for what. I then go and create a more awesome site and post my local awards as a web designer. That makes them MORE irate. So, the cycle continues, we must continue with our own endeavors and forget about those that try to bring us down. And as your blog domain says – get busy living!

Thanks for the comment. It’s a shame there are people like that, but we can’t change them. We can only ignore them and move on.

Jason

Benny, I extremely jealous of your success but that encourage me to be more focus to achieve something for myself as well! I think jealousy is good if you take it as a positive attitude that inspire you, challenge you and a motivation for yourself to work even harder. For the dude, don’t hate someone who is more success than you because of your jealousy. Cheer man!

Hey Benny, next time a hater accuses you of just being lucky, the best response would be, “You’re right, it was all luck!” and leave it at that. Tough to argue with someone who simply agrees with what you say. Of course you’re not agreeing, you’re just dismissing him without getting involved in an argument. Keep up the good work man, you deserve all the good, all the luck that comes your way.

That would have been a great comment for sure. Hahaha. Maybe next time I’ll try that. Thanks for the comment!

Russell

Benny,

Seeing other people be successful can certainly bring out jealousy and I think that is definitely what is happening there. I don’t think that that particular individual is really getting what makes your story so inspiring.

It’s about how you took action and made something. And as a result of that you were rewarded with an application that brought in an income. Not everyone who develops an application will make mega-millions by making the next Angry Birds and not everyone will even get as far as launching an application on the App Store. However, the difference here (and what I think is not being recognized) is that what you have done is far more then what most people have, or will do, for their big idea/application – and that’s taking action and following through.

Yeah he’s just some boneheaded guy. I’m just glad I’m not friends with anyone who acts like that. Like I said, he sounds like a bitter developer. I just had to move on instead of continuing the verbal sparring. Thanks Russell for your comment!

When you do something worth doing, you’re going to make some people mad. That dude isn’t mad at you or your success. He’s not mad at your good fortune being app of the week. That dude is mad he hasn’t achieve success himself, and you totally nailed the bitter thing.

Wow. Great message and I’m glad you quickly got over it. Someone once told me if you have haters, you are doing something right. Continued success and may you get more haters! You know what I mean, haha.

Hahaha I totally know what you mean. I’ve heard that same thing too and I know everyone has a different way of handling it. I let my frustrations out, but decided to stop replying. So I welcome more haters then because that means I’ll have success. 🙂